Too Good For A Testimony?!

Wow! It's been a while!! :)

We are surviving the winter here in Wisconsin. There have been some really cold days, but for the most part they tell me that this winter has been really mild.

One thing that we enjoy doing is snowshoe hiking! I gotta tell you....it's really fun!!

Yesterday I was out hiking and I noticed how bright my red snowshoe was compared to the snow. The verse came to mind:

"Come now, let us settle the matter," says the Lord.

"Though your sins are like scarlet,

they shall be as white as snow;

though they are red as crimson,

they shall be like wool."

Isaiah 1:18

         

I started to think about the difference between the red in my shoe and the white of the snow. It's a huge difference. It's a drastic difference. It's a difference that one can't help but notice, even if they themselves know nothing about snowshoeing. 

As I thought about that for a while another verse came to mind:

        

 “‘I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. 

         Would that you were either cold or hot! 

         So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, 

         I will spit you out of my mouth." 

         Revelation 3:15-16

How much of my life have I spent being lukewarm for God?

More than I would care to admit.

For years I would tell people that I didn't really have a testimony because I was raised in the church and grew up with the teaching. What a misguided and frankly wrong way of thinking!

It doesn't matter what I did or didn't do before I gave my life to Christ, my transformation should be drastic! It should be like scarlet compared to white snow. People, no matter what their beliefs, should be able to see a difference. 

You see, many, many times we think that when we give our lives to the Lord what should be different is our actions (physical) or our thinking (mental). But what we fail to realize is that the initial transformation is in our heart (spirit), and that transformation should be radical. 

No matter what we have done, good or bad, or how we have behaved, right or wrong, there should be a noticeable shift in our hearts. We can do good things and we can behave in a right way without the Lord. But only God can purify and clean our heart

Create in me a clean heart, O God, 

And renew a steadfast spirit within me.

Psalm 51:10

And no matter how "good" we were before walking with the Lord, our hearts were all the same, dirty, stained, and sinful.

"But the things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, 

and those defile the man.

"For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, 

fornications, thefts, false witness, slanders."

Matthew 15:18-19

Therefore our transformation from scarlet to pure, white snow should reveal a difference that can only be attributed to God. 

What if it doesn't?

Well, I don't really have an answer for that as it is something you need to take before the Lord.

For me personally I think it came down to a misunderstanding and to pride.

You see, I gave my head to God.

I learned about Him, believed in Him, and tried in think of Him.

I gave my physical self to God, though through my pride I mistakenly thought I was already doing pretty good on my own. 

But I had not given my heart to God. 

I had not let Him truly transform my heart. 

I had not let Him make it like His own.

When God transforms our heart we take on His priorities.

A heart that breaks for the lost....and is willing to be obedient in doing something about it.

A heart that loves the Church...and is willing to be a part of it.

A heart that cares for the poor, widows, and orphans...and is willing to put that into action.

A heart that forgives...even when our perpetrator isn't repentant. 

And that, my friend, looks radically different.